I think a generation is the creation of shared experiences, the things that happened, the things you all did and listened to and read and went through and, as important, the things that did not happen. We are the last generation to grow up with crappy video games, with actual arcades instead of quality home consoles. If we wanted to play, we had to leave the house and mix it up with the ruffians. That is, we are the last generation to have the old-time childhood, wherein we were assigned a bully along with a homeroom teacher. Our childhood was closer to those of the 1950s than to whatever they’re doing today. It was coherent, hands-on, dirty, and fun. We are the last civilized human beings to have the old-time childhood.
Just think of all the things that have come and gone in our lifetimes, all the would-be futures we watched age into obsolescence—CD, DVD, answering machine, Walkman, MTV, video store, even internet. mall. There were still some rotary phones around in our childhood—now it’s nothing but virtual buttons.
I believe it's up to our generation that "the last ones schooled in the old manner, the last generation that know how to fold a newspaper, take a joke, and listen to a dirty story without losing their minds" to save this world in these dark new days.
